Irma Lerma Rangel

Her father, Presciliano Martinez Rangel, from Duval County, had been orphaned at an early age and was able to attend school for only one year.

He helped his wife build a successful dress shop located just off the main street of Kingsville, not restricted to the "Mexican side" of town.

In 1947, when Rangel was a teenager, her parents were able to buy some land near Texas College of Arts and Industries and hoped to build a home.

Ultimately, the family was allowed to design and build the Spanish Colonial style house across from the college campus that Rangel called home until her dying day.

This determination to be of service to society and fight for good causes impelled Rangel to return to Texas and attend St. Mary's University Law School.

She gathered her girlhood friends, family, and a few newcomers to Kingsville and worked hard to win the seat that would make her the only Hispanic woman in the legislature.

In response to the Hopwood v. Texas decision, which ended affirmative action at all state colleges and universities, Rangel pioneered landmark legislation in 1997 (House Bill 588) which requires state colleges and universities to admit automatically all students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school class.

Established in collaboration with the Young Women's Preparatory Network and the Dallas Independent School District it serves grades 6th through 12th.